May 21, 2010
By Kim Chipman May 21 (Bloomberg) — The Obama administration, weighing whether to prohibit BP Plc from getting government contracts, has postponed a decision until it gets more information about the company’s role in the Gulf Coast oil spill. The Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement today that talks with BP over whether the company would be shut out from contracts because of prior incidents have been put on hold pending information from ongoing federal investigations into the spill. To contact the reporter on this story: Kim Chipman in Washington at kchipman@bloomberg.net
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April 28, 2010
By Elizabeth Stanton April 28 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose as better-than- estimated earnings and the Federal Reserve’s pledge to keep interest rates near zero overshadowed a downgrade of Spain’s credit rating. Dow Chemical Co., the largest U.S. chemical maker, and insulation producer Owens Corning Inc. rallied at least 5.9 percent as profits topped the average analyst forecasts. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. rose 2.4 percent, leading banks to the largest gain in the S&P 500, after defending its dealings with clients at a Senate hearing yesterday. Equities extended gains as the Fed said it will keep its benchmark interest rate near zero for an extended period even as the labor market begins to improve. The S&P 500 increased 0.9 percent to 1,194.6 at 2:28 p.m. It fell as much as 0.2 percent today after S&P cut Spain to AA from AA+. Stocks plunged around the world yesterday after the ratings firm reduced ratings for Greece and Portugal. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 78.67 points, or 0.7 percent, to 11,070.66. “Earnings season is going exceptionally well,” said David Katz , chief investment officer at Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. in New York, which manages $1.2 billion. “A better economy and better earnings should continue to drive the market higher as the year progresses.” Europe “is going to muddle through” its debt crisis, he said. Earnings Season Profit for companies in the S&P 500 surged 176 percent during the final three months of 2009, the most in Bloomberg data going back to 1998, and analysts estimate a 44 percent increase for the first quarter of 2010. Earnings estimates for companies in the index rose 9.1 percent on average in April, twice the gain in prices and the largest monthly increase since at least 2006. Income for the first three months of this year is beating estimates at near the fastest rate ever for the third time in a year, with 79.4 percent of the 219 companies that have reported topping projections. That compares with 79.5 percent in the third quarter and 72.3 percent in the period before that. “Economic conditions, including low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations, are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement today in Washington. S&P said in a statement today that the outlook on Spain is negative, reflecting the chance of a possible further downgrade if the “budgetary position underperforms to a greater extent than we currently anticipate.” Spain was last cut by S&P in January 2009. “While Greece doesn’t have huge implications in the global economy, and Portugal doesn’t either, Spain does,” said John Massey , a money manager at SunAmerica Asset Management Corp. in Jersey City, New Jersey. “Europe represents a fair amount of sales for most global companies.” To contact the reporters on this story: Elizabeth Stanton in New York at estanton@bloomberg.net
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